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Re: [xmca] Fwd: "The Tip of the Hippocampus"(!)



And very closely related, I heard author Paul Tough out here on RadioWest
last week and was really troubled by it. He weds neuro-discourses with
"character" education (but in a different guise). The radio show turned out
to be not as painful as I had expected, but painful nonetheless.

His big argument was an argument that I always find fascinating because it
sounds good but also feels very, well, icky. The argument goes like this:
people in bad circumstances (think "inner-city" America) have their brain
chemistry affected by the terrible circumstances that they live in. As a
result, we shouldn't blame them for their inability to exhibit intentional
control over their actions (e.g., their tendency to "fly off the handle").

What do others think?

His book is titled How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden
Power of Character, and it is currently #222 on Amazon's list of
bestselling books.

The audio for the program that I heard can be found at:
http://radiowest.kuer.org/post/how-children-succeed

Anyway, I'd love to hear other's thoughts, esp. with the problematic nature
of this discourse. It feels icky, but I can't quite put my finger on why.
Would appreciate others' criticisms and concerns.

-greg


On Sun, Nov 25, 2012 at 11:51 AM, mike cole <lchcmike@gmail.com> wrote:

> This article from the NY Times was forwarded it to me. I thought it might
> be of interest to others on the list.
> mike
>
>
> Date: 2012/11/25
> Subject: "The Tip of the Hippocampus"(!)
>
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-- 
Gregory A. Thompson, Ph.D.
Visiting Assistant Professor
Department of Anthropology
883 Spencer W. Kimball Tower
Brigham Young University
Provo, UT 84602
http://byu.academia.edu/GregoryThompson
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